Wearily she dragged herself off his bed and went in search of her uniform. She put it on, noticing how good it felt to wear it without the constricting love knots in the way. Everything was going to be much better now. She would get back into the swing of things and try to pretend that none of this had ever happened. She might even ask for a transfer to another Intergal ship so she could put the entire incident behind her forever.
Something warm and wet slipped down her cheek and Tabitha wiped at the tears angrily. There was no point in crying now. No point in doing anything but going back to her quarters and trying to get some sleep. But, god, knowing that he didn’t care for her the way she cared for him hurt. It hurt so much.
Sighing, she let herself out of his quarters and trudged back down the corridor, feeling worse than she had since she’d first set foot on the Pride of Justice.
She was gone when he finally returned to his quarters and Keer didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. Knowing how she felt about him now made him feel like a fist of iron was squeezing his heart. Well, at least he’d managed to remove the love knots from her body, freeing her from their sexual bondage. He was glad about that. He wished things could have gone differently, that he hadn’t had to frighten her at the end, but what else could he have done? He’d tried to be gentle—not wanting to hurt her—but it was pretty obvious from her reaction after it was over that he hadn’t been completely successful. So he’d been forced to leave her curled up on his bed alone, knowing she wouldn’t want to be near him again. Not after what he had needed to do.
God, how did she get under my skin like this? Why can’t I stop wanting her? Stop needing her? Stop loving her?
But he couldn’t and Keer knew it was useless to try. Once given, his love couldn’t be removed. He thought of summoning her again, once he was calmer, and exercising his captain’s privileges but he knew she would hate him for it. And even if she didn’t, his people mated for life so a quick fuck would only fan the flames of his desire for her, not quench them. He could accept nothing less than Tabitha’s complete surrender, both of her heart and body. And knowing how stubborn and willful she could be, he sincerely doubted she would be willing to give herself to him that fully and unconditionally.
As if she’d even consider it now after what you did to her, he told himself angrily. She hates you. Yes, of course she did. And why should she not?
He’d dragged her through the slave market naked, chained her to the whipping post and flogged her until she cried. Then he’d forced her to submit to the indignity of being licked and sucked all over in order to get some relief from the love knots that bound her body. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d fucked her pussy as hard as he could and then taken her ass, though she’d told him how frightening she found that particular act. At the time everything he’d done had seemed necessary and right, but now Keer wondered how much had actually been a compulsory part of his job as her superior officer and how much had been his fierce Zentorian emotions getting out of control.
I owe her an explanation. Yes, he did. He also needed to tell her about the vid evidence he’d collected at the slave market. It would have to be shown to the judge trying V’s case. Of course, her face would be tastefully blurred out to protect her identity but he still needed her to sign off on the release before he turned it in to the court.
Reluctantly, Keer decided that he would have to call her to his quarters again. But not this minute—tomorrow would do just as well, he decided. That would give him time to de-stress and relax, to gather his thoughts and decide exactly what to say and how to say it.
And how to let her go, no matter how painful it was.
“Sergeant Tabitha Bryce to the captain’s quarters. Sergeant Bryce to the captain’s quarters at once.”
Not again! Tabitha wondered if she was hearing things. Was Captain Keer actually summoning her to his quarters again? And if so, why? What could he possibly want with her after he’d made it abundantly clear that he didn’t even want to be near her the night before?
And what must the rest of the crew be thinking? Not even twenty-four hours since she’d last visited him and he was already calling her back. Tabitha sighed. All day long she’d been getting looks from the other officers—envious looks from the women and lustful looks from the men. It was clear they’d all drawn the obvious conclusion when they heard her summoned the night before—that Captain Keer was finally taking his privileges. And now he wanted to fuck her again.